The U.S. Constitution, and not state law, should decide the issue of same-sex marriage equality say a strong majority of Americans, and a the largest number of Americans ever now support the right of same-sex couples to marry. 64 percent of American adults pointed to the Constitution as the arbiter of same-sex marriage, with only one in three Americans believing state law should decide. And 58 percent of Americans — the largest majority yet recorded in a major national poll, say they support same-sex marriage.
The results were just announced by the Washington Post/ABC News in a poll they commissioned that also found 72 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents, but only 34 percent of Republicans support marriage equality.
Support “has grown sharply in ABC News/Washington Post polls, from a low of 32 percent in a 2004 survey of registered voters, advancing to a narrow majority for the first time only two years ago, and now up again to a significant majority for the first time,” ABC News reports:
Most Americans, moreover, say the U.S. Constitution should trump state laws on gay marriage, a question now before the U.S. Supreme Court. And – in another fundamental shift – just 24 percent now see homosexuality as a choice, down from 40 percent nearly 20 years ago. It’s a view that closely relates to opinions on the legality of same-sex marriage.
One other startling trend: 31 percent of white Evangelicals support same-sex marriage, up from only seven percent in 2004, just nine years ago.
“Support for gay marriage, though, has gone from 47 percent to today’s 58 percent in just the last three years – culminating a period of change first endorsed by some state courts, then by some political figures, notably with Hillary Clinton expressing support for same-sex marriage today, and Barack Obama doing the same last May, a position he went on to underscore in his second inaugural address in January,” ABC News adds:
Gay marriage today is legal in nine states and the District of Columbia, and civil unions are legal in eight more states (and were approved last week by the state Legislature in a ninth, Colorado). Thirty-one states ban gay marriage by constitutional amendment.
Sharp differences across groups remain, but there have been large advances across the board. In one striking gap, gay marriage is supported by a vast 81 percent of adults younger than 30, compared with just 44 percent of seniors. But that’s up by more than 10 points in both groups just since March 2011, and by more than 20 points in both groups since 2004, the low point for gay marriage support in ABC/Post polls.
On the political front, 72 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents favor legalizing gay marriage, vs. far fewer Republicans, 34 percent. Still that’s up by 18 points among Republicans since 2004, as well as by 24 and 29 points among independents and Democrats, respectively.
The poll comes just a week  before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear two landmark marriage equality cases, Prop 8 and DOMA.